The North and South Fork of the Guadalupe are almost back to normal. Water is showing a hint of greenish-blue.

Over the few days leading up to the recent "flood" on Thursday night April 15, we measured over six inches of rain at our home in Cypress Springs Estates between Ingram and Hunt. I usually coffee at the Hunt Store shortly after 7:00 AM each morning but decided not to on Friday the 16. Curiosity got the best of me about 8:00 AM so Ned (our puppy) and I decided to drive toward Hunt fully expecting we would have to turn around at some point. Wasn't to be and we made it all the way to the taco stand at the "Y" in Hunt. We turned around and took pictures on the way back.

While parked at the taco stand I walked down toward the Hunt crossing. I was immediately taken by the high watermark on the road and shoulders. That's where the debris collects and is deposited when the water starts receding. I estimated that water came across the Hunt crossing between 10 and 12 feet over the roadbed. Another friend thought it might have been maybe 14 feet. THAT'S A BUNCH OF WATER to say the least!

Apparently the water crested sometime after midnight on Thursday and sometime before dawn Friday the low water crossings were open on TX 38 to Hunt. However, both the South Fork and North Fork roads were closed 'till later Friday afternoon.

One of the local residents of hunt, a Mr. John Spikes lost his life being swept off of the Waldemar Crossing on the North Fork. John had been to a Hunt ISD Board meeting (he was a board member) and around 10:30 Thursday night started to his home on the North Fork. He had successfully made the crossings up to the Waldemar crossing. Apparently while driving across, a "wall" of water hit his pick up and downstream he went. John made a cell call to his wife that he was going into the water and to send the neighbor for help. The neighbor made it to the crossing just in time to see John being dislodged from his grasp of a small tree by a larger floating log. John's body was found the next Monday about a mile down stream at the Lone Star crossing.

On another matter the Kerrville Fly Fishing Club along with the F'burg Fly Fishing Club stocks four locations with trout each year. One location is at Camp La Junta in a river pond across from the Hunt Store. Since the flood there have been NO trout caught at the La Junta location. Several club members, tongue in cheek, say those 300 or so trout are now in Canyon Lake.

There will probably be instances where trout are caught downstream just as there have been in the past. We have friends who live on the north bank of the confluence of the North and South Fork. My friend reports that trout have been caught in his "back yard" into the summer of previous years. He believes there are cold water spring discharges in the river that keep the water cool enough to support the trout through late summer or maybe all year.

I fished the La Junta pond yesterday and threw everything I had (except bait) and only caught one LM bass, on a bead head nymph, about a pound and a half. It's tail area was sure beat up and bruised. But, there are still fish to be caught. The locals have wanted a "flood" to flush out the river and they got it.